After being missing for about three years, the body of Khairul Islam from Kurigram’s Ulipur upazila was returned to Bangladesh from India on Thursday, March 19. The handover took place through the Chengrabandha–Burimari immigration point in the presence of officials from both countries, including representatives of the Bangladesh High Commission in Kolkata, Border Guard Bangladesh, India’s Border Security Force, police, and customs officers. Khairul’s uncle, Ful Mia, received the body on behalf of the family.

According to family sources, Khairul had gone missing three and a half years earlier and was later reported to have illegally crossed into India, where he worked as a garment laborer. He was arrested by Indian police in Jalpaiguri for illegal entry. On February 10, his wife received a phone call from an Indian number informing her that his body was found near the Jalpaiguri jail gate. Following a petition to the Kurigram district administration, both countries coordinated for 38 days to repatriate the body.

Local officials and Radio Chilmarie assisted the family throughout the process. Burial was scheduled to take place at the family graveyard the same night.

A passenger launch named MV Rejwan collided with an oil tanker on the Daulatdia-Paturia river route on Thursday morning, leaving at least ten passengers injured. The incident occurred around 10 a.m. after the launch departed from Paturia Ghat toward Daulatdia Ghat. Two passengers fell into the river during the collision but managed to swim back to the vessel safely.

According to Rajbari Fire Service and Civil Defense officials at Daulatdia Ghat, the injured passengers were assisted upon arrival and handed over to their relatives. Daulatdia River Police Station Officer-in-Charge Trinath Saha stated that the oil tanker was en route from Nagarbari to Dhaka when the collision nearly occurred. The launch master reversed the vessel sharply to avoid a major crash, causing a jolt that led to minor injuries among several passengers.

All injured passengers later continued to their destinations, and no fatalities were reported in the incident.

A fire broke out on Thursday morning at Orchid Plaza, a 12-story building located near Boxir Bit in Chattogram’s Terribazar area. The incident resulted in the deaths of two individuals, Mohammad Yunus, aged 52, and Solaiman, aged 28, both residents of Patiya in Chattogram. Another person was injured and is currently receiving treatment at Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where the two victims were pronounced dead around noon.

According to the Fire Service, the blaze started on the fourth floor of the building, inside a shop. Three people affected by smoke inhalation were rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment. The fire service responded after receiving the report of the fire around 10 a.m.

Authorities have not yet provided further details about the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage to the building.

Train operations in northern Bangladesh resumed after a 21-hour suspension following the derailment of the Nilshagar Express near Santahar in Bogura. The incident occurred around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, about two kilometers north of Santahar station. Services were restored at 11:20 a.m. on Thursday, March 19, when the Khulna-bound Simanta Express departed from Chilahati using a newly repaired track.

Authorities reported that at least one hundred people were injured in the derailment, many of them passengers who jumped from the train roof in panic. Fire service teams, assisted by local residents, carried out rescue operations, sending 50 to 60 injured passengers to Naogaon General Hospital and Adamdighi Upazila Health Complex. Four fire service units and a relief train from Ishwardi Junction participated in the recovery of nine derailed coaches.

Following the incident, the assistant station master at Santahar was temporarily suspended, and a four-member investigation committee was formed to determine the cause of the accident.

Fifteen people were injured when a passenger bus and a watermelon-laden truck collided head-on on the Dhaka-Barishal highway in Madaripur on Thursday morning. The accident occurred around 6:30 a.m. in the Tatibari area of Sadar upazila. The bus, operated by Bagdad Paribahan, was traveling from Dhaka to Barishal with passengers heading home for the Eid holidays when it crashed with the oncoming truck. Both drivers and several passengers were among the injured, who were taken to Madaripur Sadar Hospital and other nearby facilities.

Following the collision, traffic on the highway was halted for about an hour. Fire service and highway police personnel later cleared the vehicles and restored normal traffic flow. According to the officer-in-charge of the Mostafapur Highway Police Station, the situation has since been brought under control and vehicular movement has returned to normal.

State Minister for Shipping Md. Rajib Ahsan announced that the route permits of two launches involved in the recent Sadarghat accident have been cancelled. He made the statement after visiting the accident site at Sadarghat Launch Terminal on the night of March 18, 2026, where one person was killed and another injured. The minister said those responsible for the tragedy will face exemplary punishment.

According to the minister, the Ministry of Shipping and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) have each formed separate investigation committees to determine the cause of the accident. The ministry’s committee is headed by Additional Secretary (Organization) Abul Islam, while BIWTA’s committee is led by Director (Administration) Saiful Islam. Both committees have been instructed to submit their reports within three working days. Representatives from BIWTA, the Department of Shipping, Fire Service, and River Police are included in the ministry’s committee.

The minister added that the injured victims are members of the same family from Mehendiganj in Barishal, including a pregnant woman. The government has ensured advanced medical care for them and promised maximum support to the deceased’s family.

A police officer went missing after a speedboat sank following a collision with a passenger launch named Karnaphuli-12 on the Meghna River in Lalmohan, Bhola. The incident occurred around 8 p.m. on Wednesday near the Mangal Sikdar launch terminal. The missing officer, Md. Fakhrul, was stationed at the Sikdar Police Investigation Center in Lalmohan and is a resident of Bakerganj, Barishal. Five others, including three police constables and two fisheries department staff, were injured in the accident.

According to eyewitnesses, the team was conducting an operation to enforce a government fishing ban when their speedboat malfunctioned and drifted into the river. The launch, arriving from Dhaka, was unloading passengers at the time. The drifting boat was pulled under the launch by the current, and when attempts were made to move it, the propeller’s whirlpool overturned the vessel. Most passengers swam to safety, but Fakhrul went missing.

Lalmohan Police Station’s officer-in-charge Md. Oliul Islam said a rescue operation is underway to locate the missing constable and that legal measures will follow.

Recovery work for the derailed coaches of the NilSagar Express in Santahar, Bogura, was completed on Thursday morning. The derailment occurred near Bagbari in Adamdighi upazila, about two kilometers north of Santahar, on Wednesday afternoon. Following the incident, the assistant station master of Santahar was temporarily suspended, and a four-member investigation committee was formed. Station officials said partial train operations could resume by noon, while full service on the Ishwardi-Parbatipur route might take another four to five hours.

According to local accounts, the train driver allegedly failed to heed signals and was driving at high speed, leading to the derailment. Panic among passengers caused some to jump from the train roof, resulting in injuries. Fire service units and local residents jointly carried out rescue operations, sending 50 to 60 injured passengers to nearby hospitals. Four fire service units participated in the rescue, and a relief train from Ishwardi Junction was dispatched to lift the nine derailed passenger coaches.

Train movement in the northern region was halted for several hours but was expected to gradually return to normal later in the day.

Police in Ramu, Cox’s Bazar, have arrested brick kiln owner Shafiul Azam, also known as BK Azam, for allegedly brandishing a firearm and threatening staff at a petrol pump near the Morichya BGB checkpoint. The arrest took place late Wednesday night following reports of the incident, which occurred on Tuesday when Azam allegedly raised a shotgun and caused a disturbance at the pump.

According to the petrol pump manager, Nurul Haque, Azam demanded fuel beyond his allocated quota. When Haque refused to supply extra fuel outside the government’s rationing system, Azam reportedly threatened him with the shotgun and created chaos at the site. The manager later filed a written complaint with the local police station.

Ramu Police Station Officer-in-Charge Monirul Islam Bhuiyan stated that authorities took the matter seriously after it was reported in the media and have initiated legal action. Police have also seized Azam’s licensed shotgun as part of the investigation.

Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta has publicly accused her late colleague and labor leader Cesar Chavez of sexual violence, joining several other women who shared similar experiences. In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she decided to speak out after being contacted for a New York Times investigation that uncovered allegations of abuse involving minors as young as 12. Huerta, now nearly 96, said she had kept silent for six decades to protect the farmworker movement she helped build with Chavez, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association and died in 1993.

The New York Times report included accounts from multiple women describing sexual abuse by Chavez, including Huerta’s claim that she was manipulated and later raped by him, resulting in pregnancies she kept secret. Other women, including Ana Murguia, Debra Rojas, and Esmeralda Lopez, also described assaults or coercion by Chavez when they were minors or young adults. The United Farm Workers, which evolved from the organization Chavez co-founded, announced it would not participate in Cesar Chavez Day events and pledged to create an independent reporting channel for survivors.

Lawmakers from both parties called for Chavez’s name to be removed from public honors, describing the revelations as shocking and a betrayal of civil rights values.

Five passengers were injured when a bus of Ekushey Paribahan lost control and overturned at Kabirla area in Burichang upazila of Cumilla on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway around 11:20 p.m. on Wednesday. Locals said the seriously injured were taken to Eastern Medical College Hospital. The bus was traveling from Dhaka toward Cumilla at the time of the accident.

Kalbela newspaper’s chief reporter, Yusuf Arefin, was among the injured and is currently receiving treatment at Mainamati Cantonment General Hospital. A Chandina Fire Service officer said the bus remained on the road and would be removed using a wrecker. Highway police confirmed that there was no major traffic congestion, except for a brief disruption caused by vehicles entering the wrong lane.

Highway Police Superintendent Shahinur Alam stated that the process of removing the overturned bus was underway and would be completed shortly. Police and fire service personnel were present at the scene to manage the situation.

A collision between two passenger launches at Sadarghat terminal in Dhaka on Wednesday evening left one man dead and a pregnant woman seriously injured. The deceased was identified as Sohel, 22, while the injured woman, Reba, 20, is from Barishal. The accident occurred around 5:30 p.m. when one launch, while boarding passengers, was struck from behind by another vessel. Fire service personnel rescued the victims and sent them to Mitford Hospital, where Sohel later died.

Police and fire service officials said the situation was quickly brought under control after initial panic among passengers. The injured woman remains under treatment at the hospital. Authorities have begun investigating the cause of the collision and stated that legal action will be taken if negligence by the launch operators is found.

According to police, the incident happened as passengers were boarding for a trip to Barishal’s Kashipur. The investigation is ongoing to determine responsibility for the fatal crash.

Railway authorities have formed a four-member investigation committee after nine coaches of the Dhaka–Chilahati-bound Nilsagar Express derailed in Bagmari area of Adamdighi upazila, Bogura. The incident occurred on Wednesday morning when the train, which departed Dhaka at 6:45 a.m., reportedly failed to follow a banner signal while heading toward Tilakpur station. A total of 66 passengers were injured in the accident.

According to official information, 20 injured passengers are receiving treatment at Naogaon Sadar Hospital, while 40 others were released after primary care. Six more were treated and released from Adamdighi Upazila Health Complex in Bogura. Relief trains from Ishwardi and Parbatipur were dispatched to assist in rescue operations. The investigation committee is led by the chief transport officer and includes the mechanical engineer, chief engineer, and chief signal engineer.

Railway authorities have warned that Thursday morning’s Nilsagar Express and Ekota Express departures from Dhaka may face slight delays. They have expressed regret for the temporary inconvenience caused to passengers.

Railway authorities have started recovering nine coaches of the Nilshagar Express that derailed in Adamdighi, Bogura, on Wednesday afternoon. A rescue train from Ishwardi, Pabna, arrived at the site around 6:45 p.m. and began operations, confirmed Santahar Railway Station Master Khadija Khatun. Another rescue train from Parbatipur, Dinajpur, is also on its way to assist in restoring rail communication as quickly as possible.

The derailment occurred around 2:15 p.m., injuring many passengers, including those who were on the train’s roof and jumped off during the accident. The incident disrupted rail communication between Dhaka and five northern districts—Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, and Joypurhat—as well as between Dinajpur and other northern regions. However, train movement on the Dhaka–Rangpur–Lalmonirhat line remains normal.

Local sources said rail track repair work was underway at the site, and a red flag had been placed, but the driver reportedly failed to notice it. No fatalities have been reported so far, and 47 injured passengers were taken to Naogaon General Hospital for treatment.

A fishing boat belonging to fisherman Bali Jolodas was stolen late Tuesday night from Bottoli Fish Wharf in Santoshpur Union of Sandwip upazila, Chattogram. The boat, worth about 360,000 taka, was his only means of livelihood. The theft has left him distraught as he struggles with loan repayments and family expenses. Local fishermen have expressed growing fear following the incident.

According to locals, Bali Jolodas had purchased the boat with his savings and borrowed funds, paying monthly installments of around 50,000 taka. He discovered the theft after returning from fishing during the night tide. Local fisherman Batul Jolodas said such thefts had never happened before, and now they must guard their boats at night. Union Parishad member Ashraf described Bali as a hardworking man who has been left destitute and said efforts are underway to assist him and recover the boat.

Sandwip Police Station Officer-in-Charge Zayed Noor stated that no written complaint had yet been received but assured that legal action and recovery efforts would begin once a complaint is filed.